Forbidden
by WishIWasJKR
Summary: Complete. "How do you think I feel when we hook up and then you go off with someone else?" "You have no right to feel anything," Scorpius spat at Lily, "Everyone knows I feel nothing for no one. What makes you think you're any different?" LP/SM
1. Family

Kay I'm basically just experimenting a bit here. No promises or anything, but idk lemme know what you think. Kind of a continuation, yearsss later, of Corey.

* * *

"You all packed for Hogwarts then?"

Dad was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest. I seriously can't believe that some of my friends actually find him attractive. I mean, okay, he's only in his young forties and he's quite buff for his age and, okay, there's the whole killing Lord Voldemort and saving the whole Wizarding World thing, but so what? He's my dad. It's just, eurgh.

So back to the scene, anyway. I looked up at him with an arched eyebrow and stuffed my WizComm into my pocket. He arched his eyebrow right back.

"What are you hiding?" he said with a slight smile.

"Nothing!" I said indignantly. "Honestly, Dad, why Mum likes you when she already has enough nosy, overprotective brothers is beyond me."

His smile now spread ominously across his face.

"Brothers, aye?"

And before I could stop him he'd run downstairs. I could imagine the conversation, before I was joined by my own two, nosy, overprotective brothers.

"What?" I asked irritably as they stood in the doorway.

But then Albus jumped on my bed and pushed me down, before James reached into my pocket and got out my WizComm.

"Ever heard of privacy rights?" I said as Albus released me. I made for my Wizcomm. "Give it back!"

"Who's been MMSing you?" Albus smirked at me, shoving me aside. Wonderful how, because I play Quidditch, they get to shove me around all the time.

"Merlin's beard!" whispered James in shock. His gaze shifted from my WizComm screen to me. "No."

"What?" asked Albus worriedly. He made for my WizComm but James threw it back to me. I caught it, of course – I'm not on the Gryffindor Quidditch team for nothing.

"I'm not gonna be the one to tell him," smirked James.

He strode out of the room. Albus looked at me questioningly.

"Tell me what?" he moaned. For a sixteen-year-old, he's quite a kid.

I took a deep breath in and yelled out, "MUM!"

Albus shot me a glare before bailing out of the room. And then Mum came up. Only in my household can my whole family have stood in my doorway in the space of five minutes.

"What's up?"

I looked up at Mum uncertainly. I love her. She's about the strongest person I know. Dad's nothing compared to her – he didn't have to squeeze James's huge-as head out of his, well, you get the point. Mum and I have always had a close relationship, being the only girls in the family and all. But I wasn't quite sure how to go about this.

"How did you stop Uncle Ron from beating the hell out of Harry when you two started going out?" I asked tentatively.

"It just kinda happened." Mum shrugged. "But don't worry, Albus isn't that much like your uncle, he'll let it go."

"What?" I asked, keeping the nonchalance in my tone.

"I'm not blind, Lily. I've seen the way you look at Scorpius-"

"Corey," I interjected, smiling proudly at the nickname I'd given him almost four years ago.

"-when he comes over. And the way he looks at you-"

"Wait, what?" I burst, flabbergasted. Mum had caught me off-guard. She's not supposed to _know_ who I'm talking about.

"I'm glad you're finally getting bad at lying," she told me, looking out the window. "I was kinda getting worried how we would ever raise you."

"James knows."

"James can hardly do a thing. And it's Corey. He's an angel."

I internally rolled my eyes. That's what everyone thought about Corey, even James, so he wouldn't be too hard on him. But Al knows what he's really like. And he isn't any Saint Mungo. And why hasn't Al told James about that? Well, because Al and Corey are the best of friends, and Al wouldn't just spread rumours like that. And let's face it: he never expected his precious little sister to ever go out with Corey. Not that anything's happened. Yet.

"Wait, what did you say about the way_ he_ looks at _me_?" I asked with an air of indifference.

"Nothing," said Mum, and she walked out.

I swear, in this house, everyone but me gets to know what they want to. Although, Mum's words did leave me feeling just a little bit elated.

_This year is going to be interesting. _


	2. Awkward Turain Ride :P

Do you get the title? It's like I was going to say awkward turtle but then I changed. Yeah I'm lame.

Okay so I've got like an audience of seven for this fic but I just couldn't let them down :P; I'll try to upload fortnightly if I can! x

* * *

The next morning I was woken by dear brother James' cheery voice.

"You have to go to school today, na na na na naah!"

"Shut up, you twat!" shouted Albus.

I climbed out of bed and stuck my head out the door.

"Be quiet the both of you, I'm trying to get some rest," I whined, rubbing at my eye.

"Lils, it's nine-thirty; we have to be there in an hour," James pointed out.

"Crud."

I headed for the kitchen and made myself some cereal – _Quidditch Puffs, _my favourite. That was gulped down as I walked around the house, the soft carpet tickling my feet, getting a few last bits and pieces for Hogwarts.

I was just washing my plate as James came up to me.

"Mum says I have to give you these," he said, holding a rattan washing basket containing my upper undergarments at arms length.

My face grew hot as I took the basket from him and headed upstairs. Sometimes it got a bit embarrassing living with two older brothers.

"Lily! Hurry up and take a shower!" yelled Dad from his room.

"Merlin's beard, I'm getting there!" I yelled back, dipping into the shower with my clothes.

In just over an hour, we Potters were running along Platform Nine and Three Quarters to find a reasonably decongested part of the train. Al and I heaved our trunks into the nearest free compartment and went outside to say our goodbyes.

"Don't forget to MMS," said Mum, hugging us both in turn.

"I think I'll owl instead – Dad seems a bit too old to learn about all this new technology," shot Al.

"I wouldn't mind if I didn't hear so much of _you_," retorted Dad.

"Bye Dad," I said with a roll of my eyes, wrapping my arms around him.

"Yeah, yeah, get off, you're embarrassing me," he murmured jokingly.

"Take care of Lils," whispered James to Al, rather audibly.

"I heard that," I snapped.

"Couldn't care less," James snapped back.

Mum pulled me aside to have our usual pre-Hogwarts heart-to-heart.

"Don't you think I'm a bit old for these?" I asked her as we leaned against the station wall, removed from the hustle of young witches and wizards bustling around the platform.

"Never," she said with a shake of her head. "And besides, without these little chats I wouldn't be able to give you this."

She surreptitiously handed over a few galleons which I slipped into my pocket. I knew, from the time before my first year, that the money was for both emergency and indulgent purposes – chocolate for that time of the month, spending money for Hogsmeade trips, new bras in case I grew, and Miss Flurry's InstaWax (which was of course way less time consuming and painful than the Muggle variety, or so I had been told).

"So yeah, take care of yourself, don't get into any trouble, don't let any of them Slytherin Beaters bully you too much, slap any guy who annoys you, Bat Bogey Hex anyone who particularly annoys you, don't get pregnant – 'specially not to Scor, or both your dad _and_ your brother will have a heart-attack-"

"Mum," I blushed. "Don't you think that's just a little inappropriate?"

"No, that's cautious. Inappropriate is what might happen if we'd left you two alone that day he came o-"

"Mum!"

I resembled a beetroot at that point, and Mum finally decided that was far enough.

"Take care, okay?" she said, enveloping me in her arms. "Guys are often more trouble than they are worth."

"Dad was worth it," I murmured as we made our way back to the rest of the family.

"Take care, you two, and don't slide down moving staircases!" advised James, obviously considering himself wise after just one year out of Hogwarts.

Al and I hopped on the train and waved until the crowds were out of sight.

"Kay now, scat!" said Al, opening the compartment door for me to leave through, only to have our cousin Rose bound through with a huge smile on her face.

"Lily!" she gasped, wrapping her arms around me. Dad says she gets her hugging ability from her mum, our Aunt Hermione. "How've you been?"

"Since, like, five days ago, good," I joked as she let me go.

She rolled her eyes and gave Al a one-armed hug, which still made Al feel awkward. He hates hugs.

"Yeah anyway so do you guys mind?" said Al expectantly.

"There's two of us and one of you," Rose pointed out.

"Yeah? Well I MMSed Scor just after we got on the train and he's on his way, and that was _before_ you came, so….yeah," argued Al, finishing off rather weekly.

Rose and I looked at one another before making ourselves comfortable on opposite seats anyway.

"You know I saw this really interesting article in the _Prophet_…"

As Rose shuffled through her bag, I couldn't help fiddle with a loose strand that had come undone from my ponytail. Not that I was one of those girly types, but Corey was coming and I was a tad nervous. Luckily I'd managed to settle myself when he finally pulled open the compartment door and dragged his stuff in.

To be honest, I'd had a bit of a thing for Corey ever since that first train-ride to Hogwarts, when I'd given him his nickname (although I cringe thinking back at how little and annoying I was). But over the holidays I'd grown to like him more and, as I bit my lip gazing at him, I could see why.

Corey was a bit of an attractive one. Blond hair and grey eyes – you'd think that'd sum it up but there's more. He's actually really nice. Well, he has a bit of a personality disorder. I mean yeah he's considerate, but he's notorious for being a little bit of a player. Not quite unfaithful, though, because he's never been in a serious relationship to begin with.

"Hey doof," Al chimed, chucking Scorpius a chocolate frog. "Final year man, we gotta make the most of it."

Corey smiled, glancing at Rose, and then me, before flickering his gaze back to Al.

"And of course, Slytherin Quidditch team's going to own this year," remarked Al, glancing at Rose and, I noticed, not me, despite us both being Gryffindors.

"How was your holiday, Corey?" I asked.

"Yeah, alright," he replied, his gaze on his trunk as he lifted it into the compartment rack.

"Alright? You spent practically all of it at Quidditch matches. How can you classify that simply as 'alright'?" ranted Al.

"Al, I think that's a rather unnecessary complaint given that you aren't particularly fond of Quidditch," Rose put in.

"He's just trying to prove he's straight," Corey told Rose with a smile. That earned him a whack on the head.

As the Hogwarts Express spread along the meadows, I realised. Corey was trying as much as possible not to interact with me. But why?

When conversation turned to the impending stressful year all four of us would have, I pulled out my WizComm and chanced a glance at Corey. I noticed, for basically the first time this whole train trip, that he was looking back, and there was worry in his eye. He moved his head slightly to the side, a gesture unseen by Rose and Albus as the two debated whether they should do an end of year prank this year.

"Fred did one last year. He practically started a tradition," argued Al.

I speedily pressed the buttons of my WizComm.

"It's not a tradition if it happened just the one year. And we'll be so screwed if they find out before our last day."

_Okay, what's up then?_

I put my WizComm down and waited a minute or so before sending the MMS, so that suspicions wouldn't arise when Corey's WizComm beeped just after I'd put mine down.

"Who is it?" asked Al immediately.

"No one," said Corey offhandedly, looking at it briefly before chucking his WizComm into his trunk.

Well that was a fail.

I felt an urge to go and find my friends, but I couldn't be bothered moving all my stuff for the short time of the journey remaining, so I sat there talking to Rose, pondering what was going on with Corey. I had no clue, but whatever it was caused a sinking feeling in my gut, way worse than a steep ascent on a broomstick.


	3. Carina

Hey, this fortnightly update thing is actually working! :) btw, SKINS! Don't you people reckon JJ is just so cute? He's my favourite second gen character. Okay so enough with the random ramblings, on with the story...

* * *

As I hopped off the train, an arm swung around my shoulder and Louis grinned childishly at me.

"Hello, Lils," he said cheerily.

"Sup Louis," I said, with the silent 's' sound like they would in France. He rolled his eyes. Louis and I are what I like to call best-cousins. We both know what it's like to have two older siblings of the opposite gender. I mean, if there was just the one sibling of the opposite gender, there'd be a really close bond and all, but given that there's two, they can kind of both go off and have their fun together. Louis and I both find that annoying. He doesn't quite understand the over-protectiveness though, but he tries.

"How are those devilish brothers of yours then?" he asked.

"Wonderful," I said sarcastically. "James pretty much knows that I like-"

I stopped midsentence. Sure, Louis and I were close, but I couldn't tell him.

"D'you want me to just ask James and remind him so that he can tell the whole Weasley Clan?" teased Louis.

I knew he wouldn't though. If there was anyone who understood the importance of privacy, it was Louis. He'd once read Dominique's MMSes only to find out way too much about her than he'd wanted to. But his words _had_ caused me to bite my lip.

"Louis, d'you reckon he'd tell anyone?" I queried nervously.

"What does he know?" asked Louis in a serious tone.

"Just that I MMS him."

"Nah, that's only enough for him to tease you, and besides, Big Jim's gonna forget it all pretty quickly. That big head of his is rather useless."

I smiled at his calling my eldest brother Big Jim. He'd been doing that mockingly since he was ten, much to Big Jim's annoyance. It reminded James that, when compared to his older cousins, he was rather young.

It was then that Corey decided to finally reply, taking the I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about approach with a _wat dyu mean?_

"Hey, Lils, I have to go," said Louis, eyeing a sixth-year girl I couldn't quite identify as she climbed into a carriage. "Sorry for being a twat," he said when he noticed I had followed his gaze.

"Just go," I said, rolling my eyes.

Once he was gone I sent Corey my reply, a simple _nvm_.

"Hey Lily!"

Emily and Viv bounded up to me and gave me a hug, asking me how my holidays were and all those informalities.

"C'mon, let's get a carriage," said Emily, and we put our arms around each other and set off drunkenly towards the invisible thestrals. None of us saw them, but after one of Corey and Al's pranks last year we pretty well knew they were there.

****

"_C'mon, it's just a little further!" Al called, a little while ahead of us._

_We were in the Forbidden Forest, and it was Halloween night, so of course we expected something._

"_You know we're not going to get freaked," said Viv. "It's Halloween, you're going to get someone to jump out and scare us, blah blah blah."_

"_Stop being such a know-it-all," Scorpius said from beside me. "We just want to show you something."_

_Yeah right._

_But, nevertheless, we followed him further into the forest, until we couldn't even see the beacon of light that was the full moon through the treetops. _

"_Do you guys wanna speed this up? I told Toby I'd be back soon," grumbled Emily._

"_C'mon guys, lighten up," I said cheerily. "I brought chocolate frogs."_

"_Ooh gimme!"_

_As I reached my hand into the pockets of my hoodie, there was a rustling sound from just next to Viv. I heard her jump in fright, before she called out to Al and Scor._

"_Yeah, you forgot we have wands."_

_She pulled out her wand and murmured "Lumos"._

_We all gazed around at the forest and found nothing. I furrowed my brows in confusion, a sinkhole beginning to form in my stomach. _

"_Al…"_

"_There's a clearing up ahead," said Scorpius excitedly. "C'mon, don't be such girls."_

_We followed him nervously into the clearing, becoming more and more nervous with every branch that was stepped on. Despite the substantial lighting emitted by the moon into the clearing, Viv didn't put away her wand._

_There was a noise again – someone, or something, had stepped on twigs despite none of us five moving._

"_Okay guys, very funny, who's under the Invisibility Cloak," said Emily, though there was a slight wavering in her voice. _

_Then a body brushed up against me, so emaciated, so skeletal, I shrieked._

"_Okay, no one in our school's that thin," I murmured, very much afraid. "At least I hope not."_

_Apparently the body brushed up against Emily and Viv too, for soon I heard two sharp intakes of breath._

"_Al!"  
_

"_Corey!"_

"_GUYS!"_

_Al and Corey couldn't control their laughter then, Al even rolling around on the floor like a baby. Us girls were still scared as heck, however, and huddled together._

"_It's just a thestral," Corey had finally explained after he'd caught his breath. "Y'know, invisible skeletal horses. They pull the carriages, but you can only see them if you've seen someone die."_

"_I hate you guys," Emily groaned._

_Viv, too, vented her frustration. But I was quiet for a moment, pondering._

"_Corey, who've you seen die?" I asked quietly._

_The smile on his face vanished and he played with the cuffs on his jacket._

"_When I was nine, Mum got pregnant again. I was going to have a sister, and it was so exciting because I was always bored at home, all that single-child stuff, but then, after she was born, and we'd named her and everything, something went wrong and she died, just as they were rushing her to a different unit. Dad was carrying me along as we ran along with the hospital bed, so I saw…when her eyes closed for a last time."_

_There was silence for a moment, broken only by an owl hooting in the distance._

"_Aw, Corey!"_

_I wrapped my arms around him in a hug, feeling the warmth of his body against mine._

"_What was her name?" I asked as I let him go._

"_Carina."_

"_That's a nice name," I said with a smile._

"_Should we head back?" Al said gently after a few moments. _

_Scorpius nodded, though he did sniffle a bit._

"_Cheer up, Scor," Al pressed. "Hey, I've got some Firewhiskey in my trunk, and seeing as goodie-two-shoes Robert is at the hospital wing, I say we have a little party, you me, Caleb and Jordan."_

"_Yeah, alright," said Corey, and his mood was somewhat less __dejected__, yet still not quite his normal self._

"_I'll pretend I didn't hear that," I told Al as I pressed a chocolate frog into Corey's hand.

* * *

_Okay that kinda ended suddenly but meh. Um, I have no idea what to call Scorpius in the narration. I mean it is Lily's narration so I was gonna do Corey but maybe it'd be better if I called him Scorpius? Well idk, you guys wanna tell me how I should refer to him? x


	4. One Night in the Library

**Disclaimer: **JKR is a legend and I would never intend to steal her characters.

* * *

Before we knew it the dreariness of classes were upon us, and there was a general worry among our year about the extra burden of OWLs.

"You'll be fine," Louis told me at breakfast the morning of our first day of classes. "Just a little more stress than usual. Glad it's over though. One year to relax before the major stress of NEWTs."

"You might want to actually pay attention this year," advised Rose. "A lot of it links in to what you get taught in NEWT year."

"Rosie, that's just what they tell you, innit? Vicky slacked off and she still got pretty good NEWTs."

"Louis, I don't think Vicky slacked off," I put in.

"Yeah, she didn't even have Ted's face to suck off during sixth and seventh year," murmured Rose with a smirk.

"Ew, gross," said Louis childishly, covering his ears.

I didn't want to completely fail my OWLs, however, so just two weeks into term I found myself studying in the library one Saturday afternoon. It was Defence Against the Dark Arts– my favourite subject – that I was working on, and I wanted to do a little more research than necessary for the essay on Patronuses we had been assigned.

I walked up and down the aisles, my footsteps sounding way too loud. I had always hated my duck feet, although I did manage a smile whenever Emily told me to be grateful, because any guy would be jealous of them.

I pulled _Essential DADA, M-T_ off the shelf by the spine, and started. The book opposite had also been pulled out, and through the wide gap where the thick books had been, I could see a body, and a rather masculine one at that. Rather toned arms were curled up, clutching a book which I was sure a blond head was looking down at.

I hadn't seen much of Corey since the train ride. He and Al spent a lot of time in the Slytherin common room, doing who knows what, and I don't exactly have twenty-four hour access. So I had barely spoken to him, _in real life_, since last school year.

I took a deep breath, and decided there was no harm in trying.

"Corey!"

My head was bent, level with the space between the books, and my hiss must have carried through to him as I could see the slight movement of his arm tensing. Other than that, though, no reaction.

I tried again.

"Corey! Scor!"

But soon my vision was blocked, as he placed the book back on the shelf. His childishness was rather infuriating. I put my book back and practically ran to the next aisle.

"Corey!"

It was rather louder than a hiss, and the students at the tables shot me a glare. Corey, evidently deciding he could ignore me no more, turned around and gave a slight smile.

"Hey Lily, what's up?"

His attempt at nonchalance failed. I could feel the tension.

"I haven't seen you since the train," I said, my voice faltering. "Or Al. How've you two been?"

"Yeah, good," he said, speaking to a spot behind me. "Not much homework, no essays or anything, so I've got a free weekend, pretty much."

"Aw, lucky!"

There was silence for a moment, before he remembered social norms.

"What about you, you doing well?" Corey asked me, deciding that it would be better, instead of looking at my eyes, to look at a certain place a little way below it.

"Yeah," I said, choosing to ignore where his gaze had fallen (he was a guy, after all), yet internally rolling my eyes. "Trufflesnout's giving us way too much homework as usual, and I think I might be coming down with a cold."

Corey finally looked at my face.

"You sure it's nothing serious?" he asked. "Jenny Thomas was in the Hospital Wing for a whole month start of fifth-year with-"

He suddenly turned crimson and glanced back at the wall again.

"With what?" I asked, a wicked smile, I'm sure, playing on my lips.

"Well," said Corey, recovering somewhat. "Let's just say I think she had a bit too much fun on the holidays."

I cringed.

"Like you can talk, Corey, you had glandular during those holidays."

"Hey, shush, you're the only one who knows about that," he murmured. "I told everyone else I was away in France, chatting up some lovely Parisians."

I was silent for a minute, thinking.

"Dear Merlin!" I exclaimed, earning glares from the students once more.

"You got with _Jenny Thomas_ the holidays before your fifth-year?" I asked, disbelievingly.

"What? No-"

"Yeah, so the fact you got glandular around the same time was coincidence, or was it a shared gift from Nearly Headless Nick?" I scoffed.

"Okay, we were at a party together and, obviously, I had a bit too much to drink," mumbled Corey. "But you can't tell anyone. Not even Al."

"Course I won't. Believe it or not, there _is_ a lot a sister doesn't tell his brother."

"Good. Well, anyways, I have to get back. I have an essay to work on. See ya."

And he headed off. I stared after him, noting that, just before, he had said he didn't have much to do.

Within the next week, I passed Corey twice in the halls. I also couldn't help but notice that, on both occasions, he seemed to be trying rather hard not to acknowledge I was there. And I know you might think this is a figment of my imagination, but whenever we were about to pass in the halls, he'd spot me at first, but instead of smiling like he would've last year, he'd either look at a spot straight ahead, gaze downwards, or pretend to be too rapt by the girl he was talking to.

So the guy who tells me stuff that his best friend, my brother, doesn't even know, refuses to simply look me in the eye in the hallway. Does anyone else see anything wrong with that or is it just me?

* * *

**AN: **This is what happens when you cbf with subplots, but I just want to focus on Corey and Lily, and have the other characters almost as part of the scenery. And yeah I know not much happens in this scene but it should have helped convey the tension so yes nothing happens yet stuff happens and I'll stop rambling now. Don't worry I'll hopefully have a better chapter up soon.

Ohyeah, btw, decided to use Corey because it's Lily's narration blahblah.

Hope you guys have a good next fortnight!


	5. What Happens At Quidditch Practice

We students had heard a lot about the past rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin, but it all seemed rather trivial to us. There was no rivalry between the present members of both houses, and a few years ago someone decided to prove that in a way that most teens would enjoy: by having a joint party. Ever since I'd started at Hogwarts, I remembered that after the opening Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin, there would be a party at either houses' common rooms, exclusively for those two houses. It gave us all something to look forward to after the match during our intense training sessions.

"Okay, now I know we love Slytherin and all," said Jenny Thomas, our team captain as we stood on the pitch.

I couldn't help but smirk at that. _And certain players on the Slytherin team_, I added in my brain, thinking of what Corey had revealed at the library

"But we have to win," she continued, pacing in front of us.

"If we have to win, why've we invited the Slytherin team to watch our practice?" asked Ty McMahon, one of our Beaters, derisively.

We all turned to look as the Slytherin team, including (my stomach started churning) their captain Corey, walked towards us in their Muggle attire.

"Jenny," he said with a slight smile, "you know about the new rule, right?"

"Which?" asked Jenny, brushing back her hair.

And, I know it's rather irrational, but at that moment I felt a surge of rage towards Jenny. I mean, she's had her chance. Can't she let someone else have a go?

"Well, seeing as people always sneak into practices anyway, all the teams can watch one of the other teams' practices," explained Corey. "And, well, here we are."

I could've sworn he let his gaze drift for the smallest amount of time towards me, before looking back at Jenny.

"Oh, yeah, that's fine," nodded Jenny. "Well, if you're here, could you give us a hand getting all the stuff?"

"Yeah, sure," said Corey.

He led the Slytherin team into the Captain's Office and Jenny turned around smiling.

"Okay, just because we've got a cute audience doesn't mean we can slack off. Into the air, everyone!"

I rolled my eyes. Jenny is obsessed with two things and two things only: Quidditch and boys. She moved to Hogwarts in my first year, her third, from some really strict girls-only magic school her mum had went to. She loved her dad for deciding she should go to his old school for the rest of her education.

Our team ascended into the air and Louis, who, like me, was a Chaser, flew beside me.

"So Scorpius totez glanced at you just before like," he said in a girly voice.

"I noticed," I muttered, and I felt my cheeks redden.

"Oh, it's him!" exclaimed Louis, his eyes practically lightbulbs. "James knows you like _Scorpius_. And he isn't telling Al? You know Corey's got a reputation, right?"

"Well, James doesn't," I told him. "You know him – he never gave a damn about gossip unless it involves either him or some hot girl who's broken up with their boyfriend. And considering Corey's never had a real girlfriend, that would never involve him."

"Weasleys! Stop gossiping!" shouted Jenny from in front of the goalposts

Louis and I were quiet for a moment as we assembled in a configuration.

"No," said Jenny, flying towards us. "We don't want to reveal any of our secret moves. I say we just play a regular game, have a bit of a relaxing session. But don't slack off too much."

I couldn't help but smile. Right then, with three essays due next week, I could do with some relaxation.

* * *

"That was the most fun I've had playing Quidditch in a while," remarked Timmy, one of our Chasers, as we got changed after practice.

Our game had ended in us all tackling Jenny into the muddy pitch. She was currently in the Captain's Office cleaning herself up.

Claire, our Seeker, was rather quieter than usual in the corner as she undid the laces to her boots.

"What's up?" I asked her, sitting down beside her so I, too, could change my footwear.

"There were a dozen times when I spotted the Snitch within metres of me and yet I didn't catch it," she moaned. "I dunno what's wrong with me."

"Maybe it was all those cute Slytherins watching," Louis put in, giving me a significant look which I chose to ignore.

"Scorpius Malfoy _is_ rather attractive," admitted Claire, her previously anxious face breaking into a smile.

"Oh, not this again," moaned Ty, taking off his beater's gloves. "So he's blond, and has grey eyes, and has muscles, so what?"

"I'm sorry, Ty," interjected Louis, "but even I, as a perfectly straight male, can tell by your description why everyone likes him."

Ty rolled his eyes and we continued changing.

"Where's Jenny?" Louis moaned after we'd all finished changing and were just waiting for her to return to dismiss us.

The team, impatient as always, headed down towards the Captain's Office. Louis knocked on the door.

"Jen?"

No answer. Ty put his hand on the handle and it turned, so we took it to mean we could go in.

"Jen, what's taking you so – Merlin!"

Ty stopped and stood there, open-mouthed. The scene before us was one of the Gryffindor Captain, wrapped in a towel, chatting leisurely to a rather wet yet fully clothed Slytherin Captain. On seeing us, Scorpius gave us a shifty smile.

"I better go," he muttered, brushing past us out the door, avoiding our gaze.

We watched him go, before whipping our head back to Jenny.

"What the hell was that?" demanded Louis. "We're sitting there waiting for our final talk thingie and here you are, practically naked, chatting up Malfoy."

"Nothing ha-"

"Wanted a quickie in the showers, did you?"

"Louis," snapped Claire. "Be rational. I'm pretty sure both parties need to have their clothes off for-"

"Ew," whined Timmy, our youngest, second-year team-member, a Chaser.

"Yeah and now you've scarred Timmy for life," argued Louis.

"Can you people get out? I want to get dressed!" ordered Jenny.

"Bet you didn't tell _that_ to Malfoy," muttered Louis. "Screw this, I'm leaving."

Louis stormed out.

"What the hell?" Ty asked Jenny.

Even Claire shook her head, before we decided that we were done there. Because it's absolutely wonderful having a fight with your Quidditch captain less than a week before the first game.

* * *

**AN: **I hope you all liked that a bit more than the last chapter. I was a bit hasty in editing so sorry if it's filled with mistakes. I've written the next chapter so I just have to edit it, so it should be up by around this afternoon. X.


	6. Doesn't Stay At Quidditch Practice

Jenny sought us out at breakfast the next morning.

"Look," she said, her hands in the pockets of her hoodie, "nothing even happened, okay? I was in the shower and I heard him come in, so I quickly wrapped a towel around myself and, well, he ended up in the shower because I pushed him in, okay? But _nothing happened._ And I didn't mean anything to happen anyway. And neither did he. It just…happened, okay? I'd never just do that kinda thing during a practice."

The rest of the team stood there with pursed lips, before Claire broke the silence.

"I guess it was just a bit of a shock," she muttered. "Like, we didn't expect it. But it isn't that bad I guess, so yeah, we get it."

The rest of the team nodded, though Louis and I did so more rigidly.

"So," said Jenny, back to her business-like tone, "we better use our sit-in on the Slytherin practice before the actual game, so tomorrow afternoon, at the Quidditch Pitch – obviously."

"You realise she didn't even say sorry, right?" Louis muttered as we moved back to our seats.

"You realise I want to rip her to pieces, right?" I asked back through gritted teeth.

"So the feelings mutual," said Louis, his face breaking into a smile.

"I think the feeling would be mutual if _she_ felt the same way towards _us_, but yeah, sure," I said. "Hang on, why are _you_ so angry?"

"Huh?" Louis was taken aback. "I don't like it when Quidditch captains don't take the sport seriously, that's all."

Yeah right.

"What happened to that sixth-year you went chasing after on the first day?" I teased.

"Oh, Anna? She's not for me, I was helping out a friend," Louis insisted.

"I love how you talk about her as if she's an object," I said.

"Do your little friends know you like Corey yet?" Louis whispered as we took our seats opposite Emily and Viv.

"No!" I hissed.

"Secret for a secret then," said Louis with a smile. "Not that _I_ was going to tell anyway, but you can never trust you girls."

"Shut up." I whacked him on the back of the head.

"I will never understand you two," said Emily, shaking her head.

The next day, we walked down in the afternoon to watch the Slytherin's play. And of course I noticed the nerve that Jenny had, just the day after that little speech she gave to us, in wearing a miniskirt in the presence of Corey. I mean, if it was just as a team member that I was viewing it all I would probably not be too fussed about it. I might even like it considering it could be seen as a way of distracting the team from their practice and all. But, of course, it was more of a jealousy-thing that I was feeling. I took comfort in the fact that I was pretty sure Corey was more of an upper-body kinda guy – which then disheartened me, because that would _so_ mean he'd go for an A-cup girl like me.

"Obviously they're not going to reveal that much," said Jenny as we sat on the pitch, "but we got to make it look like we're focussed, so that's why we're here. So yeah, you guys can do whatever."

"Can one of you help bring out the equipment?" called Corey.

"I'll get it," I said, leaping up before Jenny could even speak.

I could anyway get there faster than Jenny, given that it is much easier to run in jeans than in a miniskirt. I let myself into the captain's office before realising I didn't have the keys to the Quidditch equipment.

"You might want these," a voice said from behind me.

Corey held out the keys which I took with a blush before bending over to unlock the cupboard at my foot level. I dragged out the trunk filled with Quidditch equipment and lifted my head to ask Corey for a hand, only to find that he was staring straight at my chest. I looked down to see that the annoyingly loose top I was wearing was not the best to lean over in.

"Don't jizz yourself, they're only As," I said, straightening up. "You gonna give me a hand?"

Corey opened his mouth to say something but then decided better of it. He silently grasped onto one side of the trunk as I held onto the other.

"So," I said as we walked along, "is your favourite place to perve on innocent girls that office, or do you prefer the library?"

I couldn't help but ask, although I didn't expect an answer, and certainly not the one he gave.

"I wouldn't exactly consider Jenny innocent," he murmured with a sly smile.

"Like you can talk," I found myself snapping. "Haven't you slept with half the female student body?"

"What's that got to do with you?" he retorted childishly, fired up.

"What's Jenny Thomas in a towel got to do with you?"

"If you must know, I was telling her about our practice schedules," he seethed.

"Oh okay, and can you explain why you think you have a right to glance at my chest twice in practically a week when you won't even look at me in the hallway?" I hissed.

We were on the Quidditch pitch now, and we both simultaneously dropped the trunk in anger, glaring at each other over it.

"It was you who told Al about Jenny, wasn't it?" Corey asked through gritted teeth. I didn't fail to notice that he had ignored my question.

"Are you crazy?" I asked with humoured disbelief in my voice. "The whole school knows what happened during our practice, and you're accusing me of telling my brother that his best friend got it off with the slut of the school?"

Corey's face was bright red he was that angry, and any money I resembled a tomato.

"Get back to the grandstand," he muttered slowly, rubbing his temples.

I silently obeyed, fuming all the way up the stairs.

"Woah, Lil, are you okay?" Louis asked me as I took a seat beside him.

"Oh yeah," I whispered. "I just hate Scorpius."

And, I am most ashamed to say it, but tears escaped my eyes. Louis put his arm around me and rubbed my shoulder.

"If it makes you feel any better," he whispered, "I like Jenny Thomas but she'll never have me because I'm younger than her."

I rested my elbow on his shoulder and ruffled his hair, before wiping my nose on my hand.

"Aunt Ginny raised you to be a lady, I see," remarked Louis, and I couldn't help but smile.

* * *

AN: So yeah hope you liked that, and yes, there will be a chapter dedicated to the party. Actually I'm really loving these two, and I have grand plans for them :D Oh and Happy Easter guys. Enjoy those Easter eggs, and if you live in Australia, do the bilbies a favour and by Chocolate Bilbies instead? I'm sure they taste exactly the same . But anyways, hope you guys all have a happy holidays :)


	7. The Game Before The Rave

I was sleeping stomach-down as the sun peaked in through our dormitory window on Saturday morning, my arms under my pillow as I enjoyed the last moments of sleep before –

"Morning," cried Emily, and with little warning other than her words, she straddled my back. The pain shot through my back and most definitely woke me up. "Ready to win against Slytherin then? I want to be able to show face at the party this year."

Ah yes, there was that negative side of the party – although all in good fun, the losing house usually were rather paid out by the winners.

"Yeah, get up," urged Viv. "I don't think we can win if we have a missing Chaser."

"Viv," I mumbled groggily, "one of the most intimidating Slytherin is your boyfriend, I'm pretty sure they'll respect you either way."

I turned my head to face her to see that she was biting her lip in worry. Strange, because usually whenever we talked about Ethan there'd be a huge smile on her face.

"What's up?" I asked in concern, managing to turn my body to the side, so that Emily rolled off me (us Quidditch players sure have muscles).

"What? Oh nothing."

Viv busied herself with her trunk, as Emily chucked me some clothes.

"I don't even know if they match but I don't care because you'll be changing into your robes anyway," she said, dragging me to the showers. "Now hurry up, you'll be late."

Within ten minutes (because I am just that skilful), I was down at the Great Hall shoving scrambled eggs into my system.

"You're eating like Hugo," said Lucy in shock as she surveyed a letter from her father. "Dad wishes you two luck, by the way," she told Louis and I.

"Because Uncle Percy's luck is _so_ going to help us win the game," muttered Louis.

"Shut up, Louis. I know you're nervous but stop being a twat," I managed through my food.

"And apparently so are you," added Rose. "You only ever eat like this when you're under stress. Breathe. "

I swallowed a bite of bacon and took a few exaggeratedly deep breaths, just to appease Rose's worries.

"And what, may I say, are you wearing?"

You'd think Emily could've at least looked at the clothes she'd given me to make sure they weren't a pair of jeans (which she'd insisted there was no time to grab a belt for) and an old bright pink t-shirt that clashed with my hair most brilliantly.

"I thought you chucked out that t-shirt," said Viv.

"Well, I was just never going to wear it, but apparently it got into my trunk somehow," I said. I honestly thought I had left it at home.

Nevertheless, it was a great relief to change into my Gryffindor robes, even though those damn butterflies were in my stomach. You're probably wondering why I was so nervous, considering this certainly wasn't my first Quidditch match. I suppose it had something to do with the fact we had lost so badly to Slytherin the previous year that it was embarrassing just thinking about it. The rest of the team seemed to be considering the same memories, apart from Timmy, who, having not played for his house last year, sat whistling in a corner until Ty snapped at him to be quiet.

"Okay guys," said Jenny, trying to compose herself. "Okay, okay."

"C'mon guys, why don't we just go out there and smash them?" cried Timmy. He picked up his broom and headed off for the pitch. "Are you guys coming?"

We looked around at each other and, in our lack of hope, shrugged. It wasn't like we had a choice.

We flew out to deafening cheers, in our pessimism believing they were all for our opposition. Corey and Jenny shook hands before Jenny flew back to the goalposts and Corey took his position amongst the Chasers.

"Three…two…one…GO!"

All six Chasers sprang forward as Louis and Corey both reached for the ball. Corey managed to knock it aside to another Slytherin Chaser who then sped off towards Jenny.

_Exactly how it started last time_, I couldn't help but think as I chased after the Quaffle. It was passed to Corey and, with sudden determination, I flew with him as he headed towards the hoops, before giving him a shove. The Quaffle dropped out of Corey's reach, only to be caught by Timmy, who raced off with it in the other direction. I headed after it without giving Corey a glance, and we put in the first goal, which went just past Xu's fingertips, to the loud cheers of the watching Gryffindor students.

We managed to put more and more goals past Xu, until the score was 140-20 to us. Though we were too complacent, as just as we scored our final goal, Heatherby, the Slytherin Seeker, went into a dive, closely followed by Claire. Both teams watched, transfixed at this one part of the match which everything was dependent on.

Claire had caught up to Heatherby. They were practically millimetres apart as they followed the Snitch as it weaved through the Slytherin goalposts.

I saw, out of the corner of my eye, Ty preparing to hit a Bludger their way.

"Don't!" I shouted. "They're too close, you'll hit Claire."

He nodded, acknowledging, before hitting the Bludger that was headed his way towards the ground.

The Seekers followed the Snitch along the ground, getting closer with every suspenseful second. They were so close to the ground you could practically see grass stains forming on their robes. And then, their hands were just millimetres from the Snitch. Just a little bit further…

The two Seekers closed their hands, but of course only one of them raised their fist in triumph. The Slytherin Seeker, I'm not quite sure of her name, swished back her black hair to loud cheers. Claire hopped off her broom, looking suitably defeated.

"Cheer up," I told her as I touched back down to the ground. "We only lost by 30 points, there are other matches _and_ we're going to have a bit of a party tonight."

Claire gave me a wan smile before she headed back to the changing rooms alone.

"Give her some time," Jenny told Ty as he made to follow her.

Guess we'd arrive at the party as the losing team once again.

**AN**: I know what you're thinking: bacon and scrambled eggs? What is this, breakfast from a fast-food outlet? Butyeah. Also, I know, wtf, has this chick got no life whatsoever posting three chapters in two days, but they're all like "nothing" chapters I guess. But don't worry, they are necessary. Annddd, something _actually_ happens in the next chapter (obviously, it's the chapter with the party (hinthint keep reading pleaassee? xD)) and, stuff not having subplots, they have like auto-formed in my mind so I _have_ to put them in now. My characters don't really seem to have a character at the moment, especially Viv and Emily, but I'm working on it. I actually got distracted writing this chapter, reading my old fic Veela Diaries, and yet I wish it was this easy to write _real_ stories. Grrgrrrgrr, I like the work JK Rowling created far too much, but I'm sure the consequences are worth it

And yeah you probably didn't read all that but, once again, have a Happy Easter!


	8. Snogfest Outside the Fifthyear Dorm

Strapless black dress that went down to my mid-thigh, matching stilettos and a cake-face. That's what I had on during the party thanks to Emily.

"You've barely got any makeup on, relax," she told me as I looked myself in the mirror.

It was still early evening, but it was better to get there early rather than risk a detention for breaking curfew.

"Can we just go?" snapped Viv.

"Why're you so snappy all of a sudden?" I asked.

"Well, we lost."

I turned to look at Viv, in her black skinny jeans and halter top, with an arched eyebrow.

"You know how good Slytherin are, they were undefeated last year." There was a slight edge in my tone – what'd she expect, Gyffindor to turn into the Dream Team overnight?

"Mm. Yeah, I'm gonna go on ahead, I'll see you guys there?"

And with a swish of her black ponytail, she was gone, leaving Emily and I staring after her.

"What's up with her?" I asked.

"I have no idea, but I did notice she was rather more into the match than usual," remarked Emily. "C'mon, we better leave."

I looked down at my watch. Five o'clock and my stomach was already grumbling. At that moment, I was looking forward to the plates and plates of food that would greet me at the Slytherin common room more than anything.

"Either come back early or stay the night!" called The Fat Lady after us.

Emily and I looked at each other before breaking into smiles.

"Stay the night!" we said in unison.

We raced around the corridor – or at least I tried to, before I stopped and took my heels off.

"I don't get how you manage to run in heels," I told Emily as I caught up to her.

"It's an essential skill, Lils, gets you out of a lot of tough situations. I need to stop for a wee."

I burst out laughing. That was just like Emily. As soon as you think she's the 'perfect girl' she says something completely contradictory.

We walked the rest of the way to the Slytherin common room. The entrance was welcomingly open. That's another reason we left early – it's much harder to get in after the door closes, at six, for want of concealing the party.

Everyone was still gathered in the common room, leaning against the stone walls or huddled around the fire.

"Looks like we haven't missed much," said Emily.

"Dude, all the pumpkin pasties are already out!" I whined.

"Jeez, fatso, the house elves _will_ be delivering refills throughout the night."

I turned to see Al smirking at me.

"Good evening to you too," I said, rolling my eyes.

"We beat you," he stated plainly.

"Like you even care," I replied with a smile. "Which dorm'll you be at, anyway?"

"Eurgh, I do not wanna see what my little sister's like when she's smashed, thankyou!"

"I'm not you, Al, I don't plan on drinking," I said with a roll of my eyes. "Ah, I remember our first party."

"You were so naïve, you couldn't possible believe that students were actually _drinking_ in the dorms," said Emily with a reminiscent smile.

"And you didn't believe, a year later, that Corey had lost it to a sixth-year," I said.

"It's weird when my sister discusses the, ur, _extracurricular_ activities of my best friend, so I'm just gonna go," said Al, and he retreated to a group of his friends.

"I'm surprised he hasn't had anything to drink yet," I said.

"I'm guessing they haven't set up the dorms just yet. And it's not like they can drink down here in front of all the young'ns," said Emily.

"D'you reckon we can actually get into the dorms this year?" I asked hesitantly.

"Definitely. We would've been able to last year if it weren't for the fact your brother was a prefect and he wouldn't let his ickle baby sister anywhere near drunken guys."

I let out a light laugh, though I was rather worried by her words. It was true that whenever James was around nothing could happen, but Al wasn't your perfect big brother. Ah well, at least I could get into the dorms this time.

Two hours later saw Emily and I sitting on the floor of the fifth-year boys' dormitory, opposite Viv as she sat on Ethan's lap on a chair.

"This stuff is weak," said Emily, examiningthe bottle of alcohol she had taken off one of the bedside table.

"I'd rather you _not_ be completely drunk," I told her.

"Okay, Mum."

"I think I might just go see if I can find something stronger then, yeah?" said Ethan, moving Viv off him and standing up. "Don't count on me too much if I'm not back in a bit."

His broad frame, which I had often heard Corey say would be perfect Beater material, towered over me as I noticed the wink he gave Viv. She gave him a wan smile before he disappeared off into the crowd.

"Oh come on, Lily, are you just going to sit there all night?"

It was Louis, leaning down and offering me a hand. I took it and he pulled me up.

"I know a guy who'd be more than willing to dance with you!" he sang, clearly proud of himself.

"I'm _not_ getting set up," I said stubbornly.

"It's just a friend of mine," urged Louis. "Oh, c'mon. For me?"

"Fine, but you owe me," I said, allowing him to drag me through the crowd.

"Louis!"

My favourite cousin's free hand was grasped by a brunette wearing a loose singlet over her black bandeau. Before I knew it I was being jostled by the crowd, not being led by anyone. I made my way back to where Viv and Emily had been sitting but they'd both left.

Loneliness suddenly made the smell of alcohol and the thud of music in my eardrums overwhelming. I pushed through the crowd and exited the dorm onto the landing outside, only to face Corey's grey eyes straight-on.

There was a moment of tension, during which Corey's eyes flickered down and took in my full appearance. I couldn't tell whether I preferred this feeling, or his avoiding my gaze. What was going through my head, if anything, when I lunged at him I'm not too sure. All I know is that, within an instant, I was pressed up against his hard body. The awkwardness had been replaced by passion, only to be replaced by an even larger dose of awkwardness when he pushed me off him and averted my gaze.

"I'm sor-"

He looked over my head before he pushed me against the opposite wall and pressed his lips against mine.

I could hear the music from inside the dorm thudding against my back as Corey traced his fingers down the side of my face. His lips were hard against mine. My hand was placed on his chest, under which I could feel what I thought was the speedy beating of his heart. As cliché as it sounds, no one in all of Hogwarts could make me feel like Corey did.

But then there was the sound of footsteps up the stairs and Corey pushed off me. Without a glance, he ran like a coward up the steps.

"Hey Lils!" said dear brother Al, swinging around a bottle of Firewhiskey. "Fancy seeing you here."

"Al, what are we going to do with you," I said, shaking my head and patting down my hair.

"You know, if I weren't drunk, I'd say you just hooked up with someone," slurred Al.

"You look disgusting, y'know?" I said. "Here."

I put his arm around me and walked him down to the common room.

"I think you should take a rest with the little kids, yeah?" I told him as I settled him down on the couch.

Al already had his eyes closed, resting into the cushion. It was, anyway, nearly twelve, and Al can't stay up late at the best of times, let alone when he's drunk.

"Take care of him, okay?" I said to a couple of nearby first-years, passing the time by playing exploding snap.

So I smelt like alcohol and the atmosphere definitely wasn't filled with passion anymore. But nothing could make me hate that night, or so I thought.


	9. Down go those morals

Corey bolted up the stairs and into the sixth-year dormitory.

"Merlin!"

He kicked at the wall in frustration and swore, but the music drowned it all out.

"Scor!"

One of Corey's best girl friends, Ashley, ran up to him.

"I need a drink," said Corey, running a hand through his hair.

"Gee, am I that ugly?" asked Ash with a smile. She took his hand and led him towards a table. "How strong?"

"Very."

Corey didn't usually drink, preferring instead to watch his friends be idiots whenever they got smashed. But Lily had driven him to it. He wanted her, and not just for one night. He was Corey, the one you could have a fun night with, with no strings attached. He wasn't meant to feel this way about anyone, let alone his best mate's sister. Mind you, it would probably have been worse if he'd gone all the way with Lily and not followed through.

"Here you go," said Ash, handing him a full bottle of Firewhiskey.

Corey took the bottle and raised it to his lips straight away, taking large gulps.

"Are you alright?" asked Ash, concern on her brow.

"Fine," said Corey, spotting Ruby Hale looking at him from the makeshift dancefloor.

"Go on," urged Ash. "You look like you need an easy night."

Corey let out a dry laugh.

"Where would I be without you?" he said, still holding onto the Firewhiskey as he proceeded towards Ruby.

As soon as they were within arms reach of each other, Ruby's rested her arms on Corey's shoulder.

"You're drinking?" she asked, as Corey raised the bottle to his lips and placed his free arm on her waist.

"Yeah," said Corey, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. "Which means it will be very easy to use me."

His voice was alluringly slow as his lips lingered near Ruby's. She smiled slyly before taking the bottle out of Corey's hand.

"Let's go down together then," she whispered against his ear, before taking a gulp of Firewhiskey. "Coming?"

Corey took a look around. Louis was looking at him over a glass. Louis quirked an eyebrow at Corey daringly, until he was distracted by Rose coming up behind him. Corey rolled his eyes. Did Louis have a problem with every girl he hooked up with?

"Yeah."

Ruby took Corey's hand and led him out of the dormitory, to somewhere quieter...

* * *

This a bit of a filler chappie. I know, I've changed the POV and stuff, and I'll be doing that a bit in the future, but only when there's no other way I can put stuff in.


	10. Princess

**AN: **Reviews are more appreciated than you will ever know, so I'd just like to say - thank you to all my reviewers so far (:

Back to Lily's POV.

* * *

I woke the next morning with my body lying across the bottom of Ethan's bed. As if I weren't sore enough from Quidditch, my back was now sore from my sleeping position. Still, I was grateful that thanks to Viv we had a bed, rather than sleeping on the floor like many other Gryffindors.

I nudged Emily awake.

"Come on," I urged. "Wake Viv up so we can get out of here and get some real sleep."

Emily leant up on her elbows and peered over at Viv. She would maybe be easy to wake up, but getting her out of the dorm would be a bit trickier given that Ethan's arms were wrapped around her. Emily sleepily poked at Viv's face.

"Viv!" I hissed, loud, but not so loud as to wake everyone else.

I shook her gently, but seeing as Viv's such a light sleeper, that only made Ethan blink his eyes open.

"Ethan, could you wake Viv? We need to get out of here," I whispered.

Ethan looked down at Viv and smiled softly.

"Let her sleep," he whispered. "She must be tired after last night."

"We can't leave her behind," I told him.

"You think I'll let anyone stuff around with her?" asked Ethan with raised eyebrows, before averting his gaze to Emily as she rubbed her forehead. "She'll be fine, I promise. Now go, because I think Em just got herself a killer headache."

"I need Wonderpills," muttered Emily. "You heard Ethan, let's go!"

Emily sat up and pulled me along with her.

"Tell Viv we've gone, then," I said, allowing Emily to drag me out of the dorm.

"You need to loosen up more, y'know?" said Emily as we proceeded down the stairwell, careful not to step on any food scraps or empty beer bottles. "We're teenagers, not mothers."

"I'm loose," I argued. "Okay that came out wrong."

"But you're too, like, responsible," said Emily as we reached the Slytherin common room. "You may not be a complete girl, but you sure like everything proper and in order."

"What's wrong with that?" I whined, and on spotting the couch I rushed over to check up on Al. He was still fast asleep, and something told me he would be for a while.

"See what I mean?" said Emily, catching up to me. "Lils, he's your older brother, he's seventeen, and he can take care of himself."

I couldn't help blushing. Surely I wasn't as bad as she was making me out to be?

"Don't worry, I'll take care of him."

The voice was plain and emotionless, and yet I immediately turned to face a shirtless Scorpius Malfoy. And yes, I did have a good look. His torso looked so…hard. But without looking at me, Corey bent down and picked Al off the couch and walked him upstairs, leaving me to stare after the back of his jeans…

We went back to the dorm and slept till twelve, Emily after taking some Wonderpills for her headache. By the time we woke up, Viv was sitting on her bed, staring across the room.

"Are you right?" I asked, waking up immediately after remembering I had Potions homework to complete. I shuffled through my bedside drawer in search of a quill.

"Yeah, fine," she murmured, glancing at me.

I started scribbling words on parchment, crossing them out straight after. This homework wasn't going to get done any time soon.

"Lils?"

The uncertainty in Viv's voice had me looking at her immediately.

"Yeah?"

"Mmm, nothing, don't worry."

"Kay," I said, not giving it too much thought as I focussed on the use of unicorn hair. "Argh, I can't do this."

I shoved my parchment and quill aside and lay stomach down on my bed.

"Want to hear some gossip?" said Viv eagerly.

"Oh?"

I turned my head to face her, my eyes glinting with desire. Surely there was a lot to know after such a big party.

"Well, last night Ethan and I wanted to-" (she blushed, but forced herself to say it) "well, "get a room" in the literal sense, so we headed up the boys' dormitory stairs and tried the spare school robes closet. Thing is, though, it was already being used."

I couldn't help but smile. Those closets were the origin of so much party gossip because two people could comfortably fit in amongst the spare male uniforms. It was exactly why boys preferred to make sure their uniforms were washed in time than borrow one from there. I'm rather grateful the girls' closet isn't accessible to drunken couples.

"Who was it?" I asked impatiently.

"Corey and Ruby," said Viv with a smirk.

A sickening feeling grew in my stomach. I wasn't too sure I wanted to hear any more, but of course I'd have to grit my teeth and bear it.

"I mean, okay, it was no surprise that they both would have got some during the night, but I wouldn't have thought with each other," Viv went on enthusiastically. "I have to say, they were stripping each other off rather fast, I can tell you that."

"I think yesterday's beers are getting back to me," I said hastily, rushing to the bathroom.

Yes, I hadn't had anything to drink the previous night, but I still hurled into the sink just the same. A feeling of complete and utter worthlessness overcame me. If I had drunk a dozen bottles of Firewhiskey and smashed all the bottles against my head after I was done with them, I would have felt better than I did then.

I couldn't help but notice that Louis was watching me carefully over the dinner table that night as I fiddled with my soup.

"You know, guys actually like girls with meat on their bones," he said after a moment, "so you might want to actually eat that."

I gave him a slight smile but ran a hand through my hair in frustration. Louis sighed and ducked under the table, only to emerge beside me and fill the rather small space between me and Rose.

"Louis!" she snapped, as he bumped her just as she was bringing a spoonful of soup to her mouth, causing it to spill down her front.

"Sorry, Rosie," said Louis insincerely, cleaning up the mess he'd made while barely looking at where he waved his wand.

He leaned in against my ear and whispered.

"It's Scorpius, isn't it?"

On hearing his name, my gaze automatically flickered to the Slytherin table. I would like to say I was just looking for Al to check up on him, but that would have been a lie. Of course I was looking for Corey. And of course, when I saw he was looking back at me I certainly felt a sense of elation. Not so much, however, when he flickered his gaze back down to his food."

"Twat," I muttered. "Louis, would you excuse me."

I got up and, through the crowd of students, made my way towards the Slytherin table. I _was_ just going to go up to Corey, drag him outside and give him a piece of my mind, but Al spotted me and gave me a grin.

"Hey look, it's the girl who hooked up with some random last night," he greeted me. Thank Merlin it was only Corey who overheard. "Who was he then?"

It took me less than a second to figure out how I could use this unavoidable deviation to my advantage.

"Someone who wasn't as good a snog as I thought he'd be," I said offhandedly.

"Dude, I don't want to know what your boyfriend-"

"He's not my boyfriend," I said strongly. "No way. Actually, he's a bit of a jerk."

"Really?" said Al, becoming concerned. Then, an angry edge came into his voice. "Who was it?"

I glanced at Corey, who, for the second time this year, was pleading me with his eyes.

"Just… some guy," I shrugged it off.

Corey noticeably relaxes. He owes me big time.

"Anyway, here are those Wonderpills you wanted for your head," I said, handing them over.

"Bit late now," said Al ungratefully.

"Keep them for the next time then," I said harshly. "See ya."

And, shoving my hands into my hoodie, I walked out into the Entrance Hall. I only had to wait half a minute and Corey was out too. I didn't glance at him, choosing instead to head straight for an empty classroom. Wordlessly, he followed me in.

"Okay, what was that?" he snapped as soon as he had shut the door behind him.

"What was what?" I asked sweetly, glaring at him.

"That complete BS you just told Al-"

"Oh, believe me Corey," I said, my anger beginning to show in my voice, "give me Veritaserum and I would have said the same thing."

"What's your deal?"

"My deal?" I fumed. "Oh I dunno, just that you went and slept with Ruby last night. You probably have no idea how bad you make a girl feel, do you?"

Corey suddenly stood staring at me, his mouth slightly agape.

"Did she say I was bad?" he murmured quietly.

"What?" I completely lost it then. "No, Corey, let me be selfish and talk about me for a second. How do you think it makes me feel when we hook up and then you wake up the next morning next to someone else?"

"You have no right to feel anything," Corey spat at me. "Every girl I hook up with knows not to expect anything. They know what I'm like. What makes you think you're any different?"

"Oh I dunno," I said sarcastically. "Maybe the fact that you refuse to even look me in the eye. But you don't have a problem snogging me at a party."

"Hey, that's not fair, you came on to me!"

"If I remember correctly, you shoved me off, checked if the coast was clear, and pushed me against the wall. I'm pretty sure you could have stopped it if you wanted to."

"Why should I have?"

"Maybe because, clearly, you don't feel anything for me."

"Exactly my point - I don't really feel anything for anyone. Stop being such a princess."

My eyes narrowed. He'd crossed a line.

"What did you just say?"

"Well c'mon, you're Harry Potter's daughter, aren't you? Bet Daddy gets you everything you want and your brothers practically keep you in a playpen all day? Well guess what, _princess_" (there was that word again) "this is the real world, and, yes, people do get hurt."

I drew out my wand and pointed it straight at Corey. He raised his hands defensively.

"You're lucky I don't judge you based on _your_ family," I muttered derisively.

A frown automatically formed on Corey's face. He absolutely hated what his parents were known for.

"At least I can be proud of my family," I seethed.

I lowered my wand, deciding my words were probably far worse than any Bat Bogey Hex I could do, and bolted from the room.


	11. Rumours

**AN**: Okay, sorry, this one might be confusing because it has some POV changes within the chapter itself, but I'll try and make it as clear as possible. Enjoy!

* * *

**Lily's POV**

* * *

I walked out of the classroom fuming. My mind too much on other things, I nearly didn't see the third-year Slytherin standing timidly in the middle of the corridor.

"Are you lost?" I asked, plastering on a smile and trying to forget Corey

The girl shook her head and looked behind me, possibly into the classroom at Corey. She leaned in and whispered, "You give me a galleon and I'll stay quiet about that."

I couldn't suppress my smile. Those Slytherins may not be Pureblood fanatics any more, but they're still pretty darn sly.

I dragged her a little way up the hall, to be sure that Corey wouldn't hear us.

"Here," I whispered, handing over a galleon. "Spread it for me. That and the fact that he slept with Ruby Hale at the Gryffindor-Slytherin party."

I backed away to look at the girl's face. Her eyes were wide with excitement.

"You've got yourself a deal," she said with a smile. "Mind you though, the school might already know – Peeves went past as you were arguing."

"Excellent," I said. "Now run along."

I watched her go. Revenge certainly was rather sweet, though I couldn't help but feel a prickling sensation in my stomach.

* * *

**Third Person**

Like any other juicy piece of gossip, the rumours on Scorpius's activities during that infamous Gryffindor-Slytherin party spread like wildfire. Thanks to that third-year Slytherin, Corey's whole House new by 11:55 that night. Well, all except Albus, who went to sleep early that night and didn't get up till late the next morning. Consequently, he got ready hurriedly and had no opportunity to hear the rumours about his best friend until he reached the Great Hall for breakfast. By then, of course, half the school knew, and that knowledgeable 50% looked up at him as he took his place next to Corey at the Slytherin table.

"Heard the latest rumour about Corey?" sneered Caleb as Albus piled his plate with food.

"You guys know how I am about Corey rumours," Al reminded them, "if it's not highly amusing, I couldn't care less. Because hearing the same thing over again isn't exactly interesting." He added to Corey, "No offence."

"None taken," Corey stammered. He knew that Al was secretly jealous of his popularity with girls, but wondered whether this would be enough to stop him hearing the rumour going around, especially since it concerned his little baby sister.

"It _is_ rather amusing," admitted Caleb, giving a smirk to Corey.

Corey flicked his fingers off his thumb nervously. He was in for it now.

"Oh tell!"

"Oh should I?" said Caleb, obviously enjoying teasing both Al and Corey.

"Just tell," whined Al.

"Ruby Hale," said Caleb, glancing at Corey, who breathed a sigh of relief. "You'd think he could have got anyone else but _Ruby Hale_."

"Woah, Corey, did you want it that bad?" asked Al in disbelief. "Sheesh you're a bit of an addict, you know."

Corey gave a small, insincere smile. He wanted to argue. It was Al's fault, after all. If he hadn't had found Corey that first train ride into Hogwarts, Corey wouldn't have been so torn regarding his feelings – whatever they were – towards Lily

* * *

**Lily's POV**

I found myself walking to Charms alone after lunch, Emily having gone to the Hospital Wing with a case of Dragon Pox and Viv being held back by Ethan. The whispers that followed me only made me smirk – serves Corey right. It's about time he learns that, sometimes, his actions have consequences.

I was just pondering that when Corey came and walked beside me.

"You spread it, didn't you?" he muttered, a façade of nonchalance on his face. "I know it was you – your little friend was the only one who knew, after all."

"I didn't," I said. "But Daddy's money did."

Okay, so it really was Mum's money given that it came from my little emergency fund but hey, it wouldn't have had the same reference back to our row the other night.

"You really are low, aren't you?" seethed Corey.

I admit, a little pit opened in my stomach. I didn't particularly like Corey angry at me, but it had to be done.

"It's not like rumours about you never spread," I said, "and seeing as you don't feel anything for anyone, Ruby and I are just like anyone else. And if you don't want it to get out there, then clearly we _are_ different, and you _do_ feel something."

"Because you're my best friend's sister, duh. Don't try and trap me," muttered Corey. "I've gone seventeen years without dating anyone and you're not gonna be the one to stop me."

And he stormed off. Little did he know that that was just what I aimed to do, and us Potters don't give up without a fight.

* * *

**Third-person**

"Did you hear about Corey then?" Jordan asked Albus as he sat on a desk before their Transfiguration lesson.

"Yeah," said Albus with a smile. "I don't know what we're going to do with him, honestly, if you're that addicted."

"You're okay with it then?" asked Jordan disbelievingly.

"I find it thoroughly amusing," said Al. On seeing the look on Jordan's face, his smile vanished. "Why?"

"You find it amusing that your best friend got with your sister?"

"I find it amusing that he got with that slut Ruby Hale," said Al, his anger growing as he took advantage of the fact that they were the only two in the classroom. "Why, what happened with Lily?"

"Well, rumour has it they hooked up," said Jordan uncertainly. "I mean, I'm not saying that Lily would just randomly hook up with him or anything – I'm just telling you what they say."

Realisation suddenly dawned on Al. So his best friend was the one that Lily had hooked up with at the party. The one that Lily now thought was a jerk. Oh, Corey was in for it now.

* * *

**AN: **Okay yeah so that POV changey thing was confusing, I know, but I'll try not to do it within an actual chapter, it's just that I couldn't think of another way to show it all and yeahhh. I think the next chapter will be all third-person with a little bit of a glimpse at either Harry or James, I'm still trying to decide. Soyeah, hope you have a happy next however-long-till-I-next-update!


	12. The One with all the Talking :S

Harry walked into the lounge room to see Ginny sitting on the couch with a magazine which he knew she wasn't reading. Sure, she was gazing down at the glossy pages of the teen magazine, but there was a rather reminiscent smile on her face that couldn't simply have been caused by a profile on the latest Quidditch heartthrob.

"What's with the smile?" Harry asked as he sat beside Ginny, peering over her shoulder.

"Nothing," said Ginny, shaking her head and putting aside the magazine.

"You're a bit old for these guys, aren't you?" asked Harry, picking up the magazine.

"Hey!" reprimanded Ginny. "Hermione brought them over in one of her little campaigns to save the world – she reckons they're causing the sexualisation of teens."

"I wouldn't be surprised," said Harry, flipping through the pages and seeing numerous topics a father wouldn't want his daughter knowing about. "I'm so glad Lily isn't caught up in stuff like this. I don't even have to worry about her trying to bring a guy home."

"How do you know that?" Ginny couldn't help but ask with a grin.

"Because I would have heard about it," said Harry surely.

"Huh." His naivety amused Ginny.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You know, I'm pretty sure there's something in that vow you made when I put that ring on your finger about telling the truth," said Harry.

Ginny sighed and leant into Harry's chest.

"Okay, it's nothing big really, I just know who Lily likes," she revealed offhandedly.

"WHAT? Who?" burst Harry, wide-eyed.

It seemed completely unfathomable to him that Lily actually liked someone. Lily, who would rather spend the day playing Quidditch than in her room painting her nails or whatever else it was teenage girls usually did. She was like her mother – but then again, by the time Ginny was fifteen she'd already had two boyfriends. Ironic that twenty-six years earlier, Harry had wanted to date a fifteen-year-old Ginny Weasley, and now he didn't want anyone near his fifteen-year-old daughter.

Harry was suddenly struck by a thought.

"Merlin's beard – she's already dated, hasn't she?" he gasped.

"Calm down," said Ginny. "Honestly, I wouldn't know."

"How do you know about this then?" asked Harry.

"A mother notices things," said Ginny. "Anyway before you ask again, I'm _not_ telling who. I hated how my mother didn't respect my privacy."

"But Ginny," pleaded Harry, "I have to check he doesn't have a criminal record or anything."

"Harry, no seventeen-year-old has a criminal record," said Ginny, rolling her eyes.

"He's seventeen?" exclaimed Harry.

_Whoops_.

* * *

"Malfoy!"

Corey knew something was up as soon as he heard the name. His last name was only ever used by the student body when he was in trouble, and not for simple misdemeanour s such as up late to Quidditch practice. True, he had been bracing himself for Al calling him by his last name, but that didn't make it any less scary when it happened as he walked into his common room that afternoon. The Slytherins turned to look at the confrontation they had all been waiting for but were disappointed when they didn't see Al throw a single punch, nor utter another word, as he chose instead to drag Scorpius back outside to the hall and into a nearby classroom.

"What did you do with my sister?" he shouts as he shuts the door behind me. "Dear Merlin, I introduced you to her

"I didn't," said Corey.

"Oh, then why does the whole school know?" demanded Al, walking closer to him. "The whole school is going to think my sister's a slut because my best friend messed around with her. I don't know why-"

"I only kissed her!" insisted Corey.

"You shouldn't be touching her at all," shouted Al, before something clicked "And then you went and did it with that little flirt!"

"Well, yes," conceded Corey, "but at least it wasn't your sister-"

"Scor!" snapped Al, his face burning red. "I can't believe you'd even think about that!"

"What? No! I wasn't!" insisted Corey, glad that he was good at lying. Any money the back of his neck was glowing red, but at least Al couldn't see it. "Look, if you must know-"

"What are you going to say? That you're in love with her or something?"

Corey hesitated. He couldn't say that, no, because he wasn't even sure _what_ he felt for Lily. That and the fact that Albus would only scoff at him.

"No, just – I'm sorry, okay? I don't know what happened."

"Okay, good," said Al, calming a bit. "And don't go looking for more, okay? You heard her: she doesn't think you're that good a snog."

But that was about the worst way Al could have discouraged Corey. If Lily didn't think he was a good snog, then _someone_ had to change her mind.

* * *

**Lily's POV:**

I was sitting there in the Gryffindor common room pretending to do my homework as I watched Louis talking to Jenny, when Viv took a seat beside me.

"Can I tell you something?" she whispered, glancing around the room.

"What is it?" I asked, seeing that she was, once again, nervous.

"Well, you know when I said that Ethan and I went up to the spare robes closet, well-" she stopped, her face bright red. I dragged her up to our dormitory, sat her down on her bed, and made sure no one was in the bathroom before turning to her.

"Yeah?" I pressed gently. Viv's face, which had just paled, flamed up at her next words.

"I gave him head," she muttered.

"Oooh!" I squealed, but then I see that something is wrong. "Wait, what happened?"

"He made me bet on the match, and if we lost I'd have to, y'know," Viv muttered.

"He made you bet your dignity?" I asked, outraged.

"It's not like no girl ever gives head," said Viv, slightly defensive.

"Well, I'm sure it would be a bit better if you did it willingly instead of for losing a bet." My voice was raised. I couldn't help it. "Geez, Viv, what could possibly have been in it for you? Wait, don't answer that."

"But I really like him, Lils," argued Viv.

"If this is just what you're doing for losing a game, what did you bet on if Slytherin wins the season?" I scoffed, but Viv looked even more embarrassed. "Viv, you didn't!"

"I-," she seemed at a loss for words. "It's Ethan."

She said it as if that was meant to explain everything, but it didn't. Not to me, anyway.

"I'm going to have a word with him," I said firmly, grabbing my jacket.

"No!" protested Viv, getting up.

"I'm going, okay?" I told her. "No one messes around with my friends."

And before Viv could say any more I was heading down the staircase with the intention of paying a little visit to the Slytherin common room.

* * *

**AN: **Oh, don't you love conversation-only chapters? *shudders* Don't worry, in the next one Scorpius attempts to seduce Lily. Whether he succeeds or not...well, I'm not going to tell you in a simple Author's Note. :)


	13. You Nearly Had Me

**AN: **Okay it's been a while and I'm sorry! Just with exams and stuff and yeah I'll stop complaining. I'm sorry if this chapter wasn't worth the wait.

* * *

"Lils dearest."

Al's greeting as I entered the Slytherin common room came from the huge white sofa which he was slumped into.

"Hey Al," I said, deciding I might as well spend some time with my brother seeing as I was already in his common room. "How's NEWT year going then?"

"Pretty darn cruisy," he replied. "Not that Rosie would agree, of course. Luckily she's giving me all her notes though."

"So now it makes sense why you chose exactly the same subjects as her," I remarked.

"Yup."

"Because that will _so_ set you up for success in life. Anyways," I said, suddenly realising how late it was getting, "have you seen Ethan?"

"Looking for the scary one are you?" said Al with a smile. "I think he's up in his dorm. I'll get him for you."

"Thanks."

As Al left, I looked around the common room to see _those_ grey eyes looking at me from the table. And he didn't avert them this time. I could tell he was planning something – he had the same mischief in those eyes that frequented them right before he and Al were about to plan something. I quirked an eyebrow at him, but he just smiled and looked down at his book.

"You wanted to see me?"

I turned to face Ethan and saw just why Viv was so scared to do what I intended to. Ethan completely towered over me, and not exactly with a lanky build either. Seriously, if we were out in the sun, I wouldn't be surprised if he completely provided shade. Wouldn't be surprised if that's why Viv dates him– she hates tans.

"Yeah, it's," I gulped, "about Viv."

"What happened?" he fretted, genuine worry on his face. I was actually surprised he cared about her. Guess I was jumping to conclusions a bit.

"Nothing. It was just about your little bet," I said.

"Oh." There was silence for a moment. "What about it?"

"I just don't think it's right to do things like that because you lose a bet." The vacillation in my voice didn't make me sound half as good as I had intended to when I was back in the sanctuary of my own common room.

"Mm."

What was I supposed to say? Ethan wasn't exactly the articulate type, and I was glad when, after a moment, he opened his mouth to say, "Look, I'll take care of her, okay? I promise."

I didn't see much point in persisting further considering he'd pretty much ended the conversation. As I stepped back out into the hall, I was just starting to think I was rather uptight and over-matured.

_Psh, no_. _I'm just trying to look out for people. And besides, I'm heading back now, aren't I? And I didn't achieve much anyway. I mean if I was uptight, I'd still be back there._

I walked hastily back towards my common room and had just ascended onto the third-floor landing when a hand clasped around my wrist and dragged me into a nearby secret passageway. Corey had me pinned against the wall, my eyes unavoidably gazing directly into his.

"Hey Lily," he muttered against my ear, before placing a chaste kiss at the edge of my face.

"What are you doing?" I'd meant it to sound offensive, but my voice came out weak, and simply questioning. And how could you blame me when the last time Corey and I had met, it had been for a shouting match?

"Treating you like everyone else, just like you wanted me to." But by the time he'd answered, I had completely forgotten my question, too distracted by his breath tickling my neck.

"I – don't want to be like everyone else," I remembered, as his lips touched my neck.

"Then just tell me to stop," he muttered, and I saw his grey eyes again as he raised his head up level with mine again, "because you know I'm not going to make you different, and that you're just like everyone else, so tell me to stop. You know I will, but you have to tell me to first."

He mightn't be kissing me anymore, but those eyes. They were so intense.

"Oh, stuff it," I said, and putting my arms around Corey's neck, pulled his head down so his lips met my mouth.

Corey cursed against my lips, his fingers on the flesh of my lower back. I pressed him up against the wall, but he spun me round so my back rested against the rough brick, and swore again.

"Wow, your mother must be rather disappointed, raising a son who swears this often," I couldn't but murmur.

"Lily, if that's all you think my mother would be ashamed of, I guess I've still got a lot to teach you," uttered Corey in that coy voice of his.

And before I knew it we were on the floor and pulling off each others' ties. He held me by the back as my legs straddled his waist. My hands raked through his hair, before I reached a finger down and fumbled with a button on his shirt.

But that's when things turned awry. Corey grabbed my waist and lifted me off him. My cheeks grew hot with shame as he stared into his lap, before I realised that this was all his fault.

"Funny," I growled. "I could have sworn you said you were going to treat me like everyone else."

"Lily, please-"

"Shut up, Corey," I snapped, standing up and fixing up my tie. "Say what you mean next time, okay?"

"Lily, think about where we are and what we were about to do!" he retorted, getting up. "I'm not going to let you lose it in some random secret passageway with a guy you're not even going out with."

"Funny," I said, my voice icy, "because I'm sure you've taken hundreds of girls here."

"Lil-"

"I know you feel nothing, okay? I get it. I know it'll mean nothing but right now, right then, I didn't really care."

"Yeah, well, what if I didn't want to?" Corey burst out. "You were meant to tell me to stop."

"You really are thick, aren't you?" I whispered. "I'd give you anything-"

"You're fifteen. Don't go saying crud like that. In twenty years time you'll have looked back at the moment and wondered why you were so hasty."

"It's not twenty years later now, dammit. Why can't we just do it and pretend it never happened?"

"Because I want you."

"Well I think you could have just had me," I said, ironic laughter in my voice.

"No, I mean, I wouldn't want to pretend it never happened."

His voice faded. Damn did those words make me speechless.

"I don't want us to start with what I've done to everyone else," he murmured.

"Start?"

My voice softened as I saw a glimmer of hope.

"Yes, start," affirmed Corey, scratching at the back of his neck.

"There was going to be more?" I still don't know how I managed to keep talking, because looking back I would have expected myself to just stand there with my mouth open.

"Forget it."

Corey headed for the tapestry, tightening his tie as he went.

"Just ask me out," I pleaded, making him stop. "You know I'll say yes. What are you afraid of?"

But then his moment of hesitation was over. He was gone. And I suddenly noticed how dark it was in the secret passageways of Hogwarts.


	14. I Need to Talk To You

I slumped into a chair back in the Gryffindor common room. Damn Corey. Damn him and his sudden consideration of a girl's feelings and his cockiness and his hot body and his cute butt.

Wait, what?

"Hey Lily what's-Lils are you okay?"

I looked up at Louis. I didn't look that bad, did I?

"I hate Corey," I muttered, surprised to find tears choking my voice. "Happy?"

"Not really."

Louis sat cross-legged beside me on the couch, facing me.

"Want me to go beat him up?" he asked.

I smiled at that.

"What?" he asked, clearly offended.

"You can't beat people up, Louis. Besides the fact that you're way too much of a wimp, you'd probably get your pretty little face smashed in."

Louis chose to acknowledge only the last comment with the words, "Ah, I guess we wouldn't want to deprive the female population of Hogwarts like that."

I whacked him with a pillow before telling him everything.

"So let me get this straight," he said slowly, "you're mad at Scorpius because he wouldn't take advantage of you and let you lose it to him in some random secret passageway on the hard floor-"

"It's not like _that_," I whined, as though it were obvious. "He led me on. Seriously, if a guy was led on by a girl – as in genuinely led on, not just like, he thinks she looks way too hot in that miniskirt to not want him – then the guy would be pissed, right?"

"I guess you're right," conceded Louis, "but y'know, this was your first time. Scorpius was right in stopping." But when he saw my face, he added, "But it is basically his fault you were in that situation in the first place."

"Exactly."

"So how long do you think it'll take till this gets back to Al?"

Louis had caught me completely off-guard. I hadn't even put Al into the equation. But considering how angry he had gotten, according to rumours, after finding out Corey had simply kissed me at a party, he'd probably blow his head when he found out Corey had sought me out specifically in an attempt to seduce me.

But there was no way he _could_ find out – the only two people who knew were Corey and me. For once, the whole of Hogwarts wouldn't find out about our business.

* * *

**Back to Third Person**

"Al, I have something to tell you."

Corey stood with his hands in his pockets, looking nervously at Al as he shuffled through his trunk in search of a packet of chocolate cauldrons he'd gotten a while ago. Too intent on finding food, Al's only response was a grunt.

"I kind of tried to seduce your sister," mumbled Corey.

If he was hoping Al wouldn't here it, though, he was mistaken. Al stopped shuffling through his stuff, leaving him clasping on to a pair of his underwear, and stared at Corey.

"And did you?" asked Al, with only the slightest of anger in his voice.

"Well," Corey struggled. He knew Al would only want a yes or no answer, and he tried to think which category his incident with Lily would fall into. "Well, yes-"

And just as Corey had suspected, he didn't have time to say any more as within a second he was pushed up against the wall beside his bed with Al's fingers curled around his collar. Corey was thankful at least for the fact that Al had let go of his underwear in the process.

"You sick cunt," seethed Al. "I told you to stay away from her."

"Nothing happened, Al, I promise. I stopped when I realised. I didn't want her losing it to some random."

"Yeah because that makes it okay to try and seduce my sister," spat Al sarcastically. "What is with you, Corey? Seriously, I thought you were my mate."

"I am-"

"Then why are you going after my sister every time I turn my back?"

Corey opened his mouth to say something but struggled for the words. How could he tell Albus something he could hardly admit to himself?

"I think I fancy her, Al."

"Don't be stupid. You don't fancy people. Unless of course you consider it that you 'fancy' half the female population of Hogwarts."

"No, as in I think I actually like her. She's not like other girls."

"Clearly, if you actually refuse to do it with her after you've seduced her," said Al, his voice calming down a bit.

"We were messing around-"

"Do _not_ mess around with my sister, Corey," shouted Al, the rage back in his voice

"I don't want to anymore, Al, I'm serious. I actually just want to settle down."

"Woah, okay."

Al let go of Corey's collar as if he was diseased.

"What ever happened to meaningless sex?" asked Al. "And forget the fact that you want to get with my sister for a moment, I thought - dude, once you actually start having real relationships there's no going back."

"Relax, Al, I'm not going to transfer into some parallel universe or something. I just, I want to be in a relationship for once," insisted Corey.

"Well if it's going to be with my sister you better be serious about it."

"Okay so now you want me to go from meaningless sex to a _serious_ relationship."

"Corey, I'm serious."

"I gathered."

Al chucked Corey's pillow at his head.

"Look, I don't know what to tell you to do anymore, Scor, but as long as you stop playing games with her, I'm happy."

Corey nodded, more grateful than he could say.

"Thanks, man."

"Oh yeah, by the way," continued Al, "if you're the guy Lily was texting these holidays, James knows who you are."

So maybe this wasn't going to be _that_ easy.


	15. We're Nearly There

**AN: **Ahh I'm sooo sorry! And I have no excuse, apart from the dull one that I probably did more studying this holidays than writing. I barely even thought of you guys, and for my selfishness I apologise. As soon as I saw I had a review for this story I knew it was one of you guys reprimanding my lack of commitment. So thankyou solangemickey for bringing me to my senses. And I'm sooo sorryyy.

Oh and yeah the style here may seem completely different, because I've had to read one of those novels from ye olden times for school, and therefore if the sentences are too long and the general style too different and unmodern, I'm sorry!

* * *

The first thought that entered James' mind when he awoke was of pile of laundry left over from the week that he had to do. Such were the disadvantages of moving out of home, renting a flat, and trying to gain some independence. These thoughts quickly vanished, however, when the whole reason he had moved out in the first place gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek.

James pulled his girlfriend, Tiana, close to him but she recoiled.

"I have work," she explained. Her golden-brown locks hid her face from James' view as she peered under the covers in search of her clothes. When she pulled her head up again in frustration, James was holding out to her a lacy black bra which, moments ago, had been draped over the lamp on the night stand.

"Thanks," muttered Tiana.

As she got dressed while retrieving her clothes from around the room, James let out a sigh of exhaustion which Tiana easily interpreted.

"James, if you hate doing the laundry so much, just drop it off at your parents. They _are_ only a block away."

"But Dad said last week that it was the last time he'd ever do my laundry," James whined.

"You are such a child." Tiana shook her head, pausing in the middle of buttoning up her shirt to give James another one of her annoyingly chaste kisses.

"Why must you torture me?" asked James, looking down her front. As Tiana pulled away smiling to finish getting dressed, James asked what he only considered to be a simple favour. "How about you just stay home and we can do the laundry together?"

"I'm not your wife," said Tiana, tying up her hair.

"Huh." James searched around the room for a reason to delay her leaving, his gaze resting on his WizComm on the night stand. "Oh! You remember Lily, right?"

"How you expect me not to remember your cute little sister I have no idea," replied Tiana.

"I know who she likes," boasted James, with a childishness that outweighed all previous displays of immaturity that morning.

"Aww! Who?"

"Al's best friend – Scorpius Malfoy."

James could tell from the way Tiana's face fell that something was wrong.

"She's probably not the only one," she muttered coldly.

"What? Scor's a saint – I've never even heard of him dating a girl."

"That's because he doesn't date," said Tiana. "He's the type of guy who'll take a girl for one night and then just not bother."

"Bu-the-wha-why doesn't he have a reputation?" asked James, outraged.

"Oh, he does," said Tiana. "It's just that a lot of girls come onto him, especially after breakups and stuff, and basically no one regrets it."

James' dropped jaw by way of response caused Tiana to go on. "Trust me, the amount of my friends that he's slept with-"

"But, you're like a year older than him!" protested James.

"He has a charm that made girls in our year look past that," shrugged Tiana.

James gazed down in thought for a moment, before his eyes lit up.

"Did you?"

Tiana blushed and looked away.

"_Now_ I regret it," she mumbled at a barely audible volume. "But back then, even months afterwards, it didn't seem too big a deal."

"Yeah, well, I don't care if Lily doesn't regret it or she does, no guy is ever going to sleep with my sister."

"Bit unrealistic there," said Tiana under her breath, so that only she could hear.

James whipped out of bed and changed faster even than that time he'd slept over at Lauren Pallard's the summer before sixth year and they'd discovered her Dad was back early from his camping trip. He was out of the house before Tiana, apologizing profusely but saying that this was just something he just had to do.

* * *

**Lily's POV

* * *

**

I took a seat at the Gryffindor Table the next morning for breakfast with a sigh which, according to Lorcan Scamadar, would be more effective in keeping away the nargles than his mum's butterbeer cork necklace.

"Piss off," I growled. I still withheld anger towards Corey, and with his face not within pummelling distance, directed it at whoever was closest.

"I'll just assume you're on your period then and take no notice of that," muttered Lorcan.

I chucked a breadroll at him and buried my shoulder into Louis.

"I feel like-"

But just as I was about to finish what would have surely been an eloquent sentence, I felt a tug around my navel and let out a small yelp.

"I come over to say sorry and that's the response I get?"

I could feel goosebumps spreading over my skin. If that's what his voice alone did, then I definitely couldn't risk turning around to take in his grey-eyed stare.

"Go away," I said weakly in an attempt at coldness. I was thankful when I heard that my words were uttered at the same time as Louis's. At least one of us sounded firm.

"Lily, it's okay," whispered Corey reassuringly. His hand reached around and tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear, but I still wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of looking at him. "Al said it's okay, okay? So let's just go out."

"No, Corey."

I twist around so my body faces him, yet in an attempt not to be ensnared I fixed my gaze a little way down the hall. Quite a feeble attempt, though, as Corey brought his lips up to gently, teasingly, stroke mine.

"Just you, okay?" His eyes were pleading me. Dammit, don't look at them, Lily! "No one else, I promise. You have no idea how much I want to go out with you. And I want to do it properly."

"I hope 'properly', by your definition, doesn't involve asking my father's permission."

A moment later I was hating myself for joking with him, because the joy that danced across his eyes at that was definitely more than what I'd experienced in the past twelve hours.

"What do you say?" urged Corey, his forehead pressed against mine. "No Ruby Hales, or Jenny Thomases, just you."

I couldn't help it any more. Because I knew, in reality, that I didn't want Corey to be as miserable, if not more so, than I was. I knew that what I really wanted was him, and it didn't matter if in the process of making myself happy I was appeasing him at the same time. It was weird that I had even been _trying_ to hate him, when I knew the way I felt about him was a far more passionate, nameless emotion of a teenager – a cross between love and lust that had been spurred on by the notion of having something I shouldn't have.

"Yes," I croaked. (You see how weak and vulnerable he made me?) I pulled his lips to mine in an attempt to recapture the passion of the previous night in a way that was acceptable in public view. Finally, Corey was mine and mine only.

"Scorpius Malfoy, you step away from her _right_ now!"

Okay, maybe not quite.

* * *

AN: I know, rushed and seemingly unrealistic, but it's about the best I can come up with without making you wait even longer. Sorry :(


	16. Easy

I pulled away from Corey and groaned in frustration before looking up. Yes, sure enough, there was dear brother James to ruin the moment. And everyone in the Great Hall, even the teachers, turned silent as they waited for more explosions than could be expected from a packet of Weasleys' Wildfire Whizbangs.

"Give me one moment of happiness, would you?" I muttered.

"Never knew I kissed that well," smirked Corey, choosing to ignore James' orders and remain within a satisfyingly close proximity to my face.

"Malfoy, I'm warning you," shouted James, taking his annoyingly long strides down the hall. Luckily Albus rushed over to meet James from the Slytherin table, and seemed to be trying to settle James down. Didn't seem to be working though, because even though James had stopped walking, he was still staring daggers at Corey.

"Why don't we take this outside?" murmured Louis, standing up.

Corey seemed to agree, and as he rose so did I. James seemed to think it was a good idea not to do this with so many witnesses, and on seeing that we were coming to meet him, turned around and made for the Entrance Hall, Albus close on his heels.

As soon as Louis closed the doors of the Great Hall behind us, James pointed his wand straight at Corey's neck.

"James, do-"

"Don't you dare do to her what you did to everyone else," he growled.

"James, don't you dare point your wand at my best friend!" shouted Albus, taking out his wand himself.

"Your best friend?" scoffed James. "You still consider him that when he's sleeping with your little sister."

"We're not sleeping together," I put in. "Geez, we're not animals."

"I know _you_ aren't," said James, leering at Corey. "But I suggest Corey stay away from you."

"Ja-"

"What can you possibly have to say, Albus," shouted James, "given that you hid from me the fact that your best friend is the biggest manwhore in the school?"

"He doesn't want anything like that with Lils," protested Albus. "He's going to change for her."

"Yeah, and how many girls do you think he's lied to in the past."

"He's _not_ a liar!" exclaimed Albus. "And he _definitely_ doesn't lie to me."

"Yeah, well, what if he's lying?" said James.

"Then I'll make _sure_ he never sleeps with another girl again," said Albus with an ironic smile.

"Yeah so will I," put in Louis.

"And me," I said.

An expression of surprise flashed across Corey's face at my input. James took his wand away from Corey in one fluid motion and glared around at us.

"Now I sorta wish he would go back on his word," said James, finally letting himself smile.

"I wouldn't mind that," I murmured under my breath. I could tell Louis had heard by his grimace, but as long as James hadn't heard I was safe.

"Don't think this won't get back to Dad," threatened James. He turned back to Corey. "And the _only_ reason I'm not smashing your face in right now is because I know Lily _will_ kill you if you give her a reason to."

"Hey, what about us?" yelped Albus indignantly.

"I didn't teach you two my awesome duelling skills," said James proudly. "Plus, you two are girls."

"Yeah, yeah," I said offhandedly as Louis and Albus sputtered in defence. "Don't you have laundry to do or something?"

I gently pulled my brother away from Corey and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Run along now," I urged.

I practically pushed Big Jim down the stairs. I glared at him when he turned back. My mother's glare. That sure ascertained he wouldn't turn around again. When he'd finally Apparated away, I turned and wrapped my arms around Corey.

"Aw, I don't need to see that," whined Albus, turning into the Great Hall. Probably to stuff his face with food.

Just as I was pondering how hard Corey's torso seemed as I hugged him, I spotted a figure some distance away, outside the oak front doors. The breeze made her hair perfectly windswept, her hands were dug deep into her pocket, and she jogged lightly up the steps. Just the person we needed for a completely happy ending.

"Jenny," I murmurred.

Corey pushed me away.

"Lily, seriously, please don't go lesbian on me now," he pleaded, holding me at arm's length.

I rolled my eyes. Meeting Louis's gaze, I nudged my head towards the door. He screwed up his face. Shook his head. If he wasn't going to talk to Jenny about how stupid she was for not going out with someone simply because they were younger than her, then I would. Taking Corey's hands off me, I made straight for Jenny.

"Jenny, can I have a word?"

"Uh huh. In a moment." She seemed more than a little bit distracted, not even meeting my eye. I turned and watched her brush straight past me and, to my surprise, straight to Louis. One moment he was just standing there and the next she had her legs wrapped around his waist and was kissing him so passionately I felt the need to cover my eyes. And Corey's.

"Get a room, you two!" jeered Corey, taking my hand. As he dragged me up the nearest stairwell, my mind was brewing up ways to punish Louis for not telling me about Jenny and him, until Corey bent down to whisper in my ear. "Kinda surprised I didn't need to convince James at all."'

"I'm sorry, were you not _just_ there during that family reunion of ours?" I asked, turning to him.

"You do realise I didn't even have to open my mouth?" he murmurred with a sly smile. "You're making this too easy for me. I like a challenge."

I pushed him up against the wall with a strength that can only come from Jenny's gruelling Quidditch practices. Intertwining my legs with his, I pressed right up against him.

"Can I make it easier just a little more?" I muttered, my lips _accidentally _brushing his.

"Hell yes."

_Fin_

* * *

**AN: **Yeahh so that was a nothing chapter but I hope that tied it up enough for you because I am dooonne with this now. And sorry it's a bit late, but 90210 = Most Distracting Show Everr. Particularly when you've never watched it and decide to watch all the episodes in a two week period. Why I just bored you with that, I don't know.

Anyways, this has been fun. I hope you've enjoyed it! Much love. And remember...

_I gotta pocket, gotta pocketful of sunshine. _


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